STATE OF THE CITY: Mayor gives status on Medford

A few weeks ago, a colleague showed Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn a photo of her taken five years ago, when she was first sworn in as mayor.

“Five years ago seems like a lifetime ago,” she said. “I don’t know if I exuded confidence on that first day, but I’d like to think I did.”

She did, however, exude it Wednesday, Feb. 5 when she delivered her annual State of the City address in City Hall before about 75 state and local officials as well as City Hall employees and residents.

Lungo-Koehn said what was most important five years ago and what continues to drive her work each and every day is a commitment to bettering the city and building the community’s trust in government.

“We want to see our city reach and exceed its potential,” she said. “We want to see it be the best version of itself.”

Lungo-Koehn touched on dozens of subjects during her speech, ranging from affordable housing and development in Medford Square to opening up pedestrian paths along the Mystic River waterfront and giving the Wellington area a little more attention.

“We’re also making concerted efforts to support our veterans searching for housing,” she said.

But, she said, everything started with updating the city charter and “making it more reflective of the needs and priorities of the people and less reliant on outdated or ineffective procedures.”

Lungo-Koehn said the updated charter was a major priority of hers and after years of work, a newly crafted document has been delivered to City Council for review. It will then be sent to the Legislature for final approval before implementation, she said.

The mayor also touted a concerted effort to make streets and sidewalks safer, the award of a $750,000 grant designed to help connect the city’s most vulnerable residents to essential city services, resources and programming, investments in public safety and holding the line of DEI efforts.

“The effort to erase progress on diversity, equity, inclusion are literally contradictory to our values as a community,” Lungo-Koehn said.

While others might be cutting back on DEI, she said, “I do know that in Medford, at least, we’re supporting each other. We will continue with our mission trying to make our city open and welcoming to everyone who calls Medford home.”

Lungo-Koehn also talked about a number of grants the city has received: $300,000 to create an Electrify Medford program that also aims to strengthen underserved communities and nearly $1 million federal grant to transform the Hegner Center in a municipal vulnerability preparedness site as well as facility of after school programming.

“Our new curbside composting program has also been a huge success, with over 5,300 active participants,” she said. “Thanks to the hard work of so many at City Hall, we even won the national recycling Award for Outstanding Elected Leaders of the National Recycling Coalition.”

Moving from green ideas to green space, Lungo-Koehn said one of her major projects was a Carr Park renovation. Phase two is set to begin in a few days and the city is hoping to have dedicated dog park there by summer.

Upcoming projects include resurfacing basketball courts, updates to a splash pad, putting in a natural play area at another park and shade improvements at Riverside Plaza.

Lungo-Koehn contributed the success to putting the right people in the right job.

“Less than five years ago, there was no HR, and it’s not been easy trying to make that change of cultures, but we are doing it one department at a time,” Lungo-Koehn said.

She said she believes each and every employee must be accountable to the public and to each other.

Lastly, Lungo-Koehn noted the city just hosted its second annual Lunar New Year celebration, held a very successful citywide yard sale and lemonade stand, Porch Fest will be back and the city’s art scene is flourishing with over 2,500 cultural events in 2024 alone.

“Thank you to all who are making this happen inside City Hall and beyond,” said Lungo-Koehn. “Including our amazing multilingual and multicultural community engagement team who I see here tonight.”

Lungo-Koehn said she’s thankful for all that’s been accomplished, not only over the last year but during her tenure. But what keeps her going, she added, is that they’re never finished.

“There’s no perfect Medford,” she said. “But we're definitely going to try this city means too much to all of us and our children … and our best is what we will continue to do.”

Out in the cold

But not everyone feels that Lungo-Koehn is doing her best. Outside on the frozen sidewalks around City Hall, a dozen or so members of the Teamsters Local 25 picketed in freezing temperatures holding signs that read “MAYOR LUNGO-KOEHN STOP THE CORRUPTION NOW!” and “MAYOR LUNGO-KOEHN RESPECT OUR CIVIL RIGHTS NOW!”

“We’re picketing the city’s poor treatment of city workers,” said Steven South, secretary-treasurer of Local 25.

South said a number of the city’s departments have been working for more than three years without a contract.

“Public safety has been 950 days without a contract,” added another picketer.
And despite the $7.5 million override passed last November, South said city negotiators are still trying to get concessions from the union.

But it’s not all about money. South said it’s also about respect.

When a syringe was found in a garbage can in the vicinity of the Department of Public works, the entire department was tested for drugs and alcohol, South said.

“And everyone came back negative,” he said, adding, “That trash can was open to the public.”

South said they have since filed a class action suit, calling the testing “egregious.”

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